Nickerson Coaching

"Moving Congregations Forward"

What People are saying about Nickerson Coaching

Paul Nickerson is a spiritually gifted trainer and teacher for local church fruitfulness and faithfulness. He is always up to the minute with the state of the art of what Christ is doing through vibrant churches in the US. He inspirationally coaches pastors and laity together to move their congregations toward that same abundant vitality. Judicatory leaders can count on Paul to not only deliver the goods to leaders of local churches, but to also be generously supportive of the unique features of their denominational identity. Steve James, Congregational Development, West Carolina UMC Conference

“Paul lives his calling with a pastor’s heart as he has been able to come alongside the leadership of anxious churches and gently, but firmly move them beyond survival to a fruitful existence.I recommend his services with enthusiasm and without reservation.”Jim Griffith, President, Griffith Coaching.

Paul is a great coach. I have worked with a couple in the past that were a little too controlling, but Paul gives advice, direction, and encouragement.

He has given us an excellent blueprint to work from as we go through a extensive visioning process. He has a great tool box.

His insight and consultation created the "extra" ingredient to help us as church leaders take the steps necessary to make our visioning process happen.

“Rev. Paul Nickerson is one of the most capable and effective church growth and vitality consultants with whom I have had the pleasure of working.He is a gifted professional and valued colleague.” Rev. Raymond Hargrove, Florida Conference, UCC

I have attended three workshops which Rev. Paul Nickerson conducted for our church, one on stewardship and two to assist us in planning for a search for a pastor and to provide guidance for conducting interviews. Paul is always well prepared and the materials he shares are useful long after the workshop. His manner is friendly and engaging with a good blend of humor. I never felt I was listening to a lecture. Paul has the ability recognize our needs and to tailor the conversation to address those needs. At the same time his breadth of knowledge and experience are immediately evident. I have also had the good fortune to hear him preach and often find myself remembering the message long after hearing his words. Don Bernier, Lay leader, First Parish Church, York Maine

Paul deserves his reputation as an exceptional leader, teacher, and coach. He understands the dynamics of church development. He brings experience, expertise and a collaborative style to his work.” Rev. Joanne Thomson, Wisconsin Conference, United Church of Christ

Twenty years of decline in membership and attendance forced us to look for answers. I could preach and be a Pastor, but was not equipped to break the downward cycle. Paul Nickerson gave us the training and help we needed to become a growing church!" Rev. Edward Craft, Woodland UMC, Morgantown, WVA

Our coaching experience with Paul was helpful in moving our church to a higher level of ministry. We got "unstuck" in a wonderful way. Especially helpful were ideas for taking the church out into the community and the importance of pastors spending more time in the community. I am a more effective pastor because of Paul's ministry.

“We needed someone with experience who could train us and our first teams and who could guide us through the first years. Paul Nickerson was our answer. If our Conference Vitality Team did not have Paul, we would still be floundering on how to implement a program for revitalizing our congregations.” Brenda Waleff, Penn Central Conference, UCC

The "reaching new people workshop" was an eye opening experience to my congregation and myself. The training has allowed our congregation to have deep and honest discussions about the need to truly share our faith with those who are unchurched. I am very thankful that we took the training for it gave us an exciting framework to reach out to the people not coming to our church. Rev. Daniel Mejia-Munoz, Emmanuel Charge, Beltsville

I have read dozens of books on church vitality, been to scads of conferences and worked with multiple coaches. Paul is simply the best: practical, knowledgeable, kind and optimistic. If you listen to him, you will get results. Paul was our growth coach at First Church Somerville UCC and his early tutelage has netted us a fivefold increase in worship attendance and pledged giving, and an exponential increase in joy--this, in one of the toughest town around where mainline Christianity is concerned. God is good! And so is Her servant Paul. Rev. Molly Baskette, First Church, Somerville, MA.

”The workshop and coaching with Paul Nickerson has really helped us reconnect with people in the community. Our worship attendance is up 10% since we began practicing what we learned at the boot camp.”

“We’ve had five new families join our church since the boot camp. That was after 18 months without a single person joining the church. These were families we met through the practices we learned at the boot camp.”

”I wish I’d learned these things 30 years ago. They just make so much sense, but I never was taught this in seminary or in the early years of my ministry.”

“This is what I entered the ministry to do: engage people in authentic, meaningful ways and help them find their way to Christ. Thank you for this workshop!”

“This has given us knowledge, tools and structure to turn around our church’s connection with the community. It really works!”

“Thanks so much for this past weekend. It was so good to see more of our folks get on board, and to see how much we have grown over the last 18 months.”